1892] Uganda 81 



at the Foreign Office had told him to note carefully every word of 

 the Emperor's, as all he said was of political value, but after a few 

 interviews Lyons perceived the emptiness of the Imperial reputation. 

 Napoleon Ill's conversation was that of ' a man threatened with soften- 

 ing of the brain.' Fleury came to them and explained that the Em- 

 peror was often in this state, having over indulged himself with women, 

 remaining helpless in bed for two or three days at a time, incapable of 

 attending to anything, and with all the affairs of the Empire left in 

 the hands of his wife. This was in 1867. Claremont (the military 

 attache), Sheffield says, sent report after report to the Foreign Office 

 predicting a collapse of the French army if there should be war, but 

 nobody paid any attention. He told me that he had been invited by 

 Frank Lawley to a dinner of reconciliation between Gladstone and 

 Labouchere. It ought to be amusing, but what an absurdity political 

 life is! [The Honourable Frank Lawley had been Gladstone's pri- 

 vate secretary a good many years before when Gladstone was Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer, but having been found speculating in Consols his 

 career was put an end to, and he remained a broken man, not only 

 politically but socially. Public morality has strangely altered since.] 



" 26th Oct. — Lunched with Labouchere, who was as usual most 

 amusing. He told me the whole story of his correspondence with Glad- 

 stone about their not asking him to join the Cabinet. ' The best of the 

 joke is,' he said, ' it was not the Queen at all who prevented it. I ar- 

 ranged with Gladstone I should lay it on the Queen, and that he should 

 then lay it on himself. It really was Rosebery. At the Cabinet 

 Council about Uganda Rosebery was in a minority of one for retain- 

 ing Uganda, but Gladstone weakly consented to his putting in the clause 

 granting a three months' respite, and Rosebery at once got up an 

 agitation in the press. ' He is an ambitious young man,' Labouchere 

 said, ' and wants to be Prime Minister, playing the part Palmerston 

 formerly played with the help of the Tories against his own party. We 

 shall have to join against him, and get up a cry Delendum est Rose- 

 bery.' [This is precisely what happened, and not in Rosebery 's case 

 only, but afterwards in that of his understudy, Sir Edward Grey.] 



" 3rd Nov. — Dined with Esme Howard, and went afterwards to 

 hear a lecture by Captain Lugard at the Geographical Society. Lugard, 

 a little, thin, dark-faced man, not unpleasing, but his lecture terribly 

 dull. The theatre crammed, for the agitation got up for annexing 

 Uganda grows daily. Philip Currie was there." 



The question of evacuating or retaining Uganda was one of critical 

 importance with the Liberal party, for it involved the whole question 

 of extending, or limiting British Imperial responsibilities in Africa. 

 Our military party was working its hardest, helped by the Tory opposi- 



